Who is the ChiefHomeOfficer?

YOU are - or anyone who works from home. Whether you're a full-time 1099er, a corporate teleworking W-2er, a part-time eBayer, or any head-of-household handling family, finances and affairs from a corner desk - and in search of a little balance in the home office, then ChiefHomeOfficer's your destination.
Think of Chief Home Officer.com as LifeHacker meets the home office - no matter what home office you run. Entrepreneurs will discover SOHO 2.0 business insight. Teleworkers will learn leading-edge remote work strategies. will spot tips, tales and links on balance. And those considering making the leap into home officing will unearth equal parts reality and validation. Explore. Learn. Return.

The SOHO Sherpa…

ChiefHomeOfficer is your SOHO Sherpa - a guide to all the things that make the Small Or Home Office (SOHO) work. Since 1993, we've chronicled the work-at-home adventure. Today, the site offers honest and occasionally humorous insights, tips, tech/product reviews, and commentary that cut through the "Make Millions From Home" promise and just lay down the real skinny on a lifestyle people can work and live with.

Want to learn more? If you work from home, want to, or are a corporate marketer hoping to talk to those who do, email jeff [at] chiefhomeofficer dot com.

Meta

It’s the immutable and irrefutable reality of many home-based business owners and small business entrepreneurs: The harder we work, the less time we invest in marketing. Assuming we’re not outsourcing our labors or services, all efforts fall to us – project work, client service, finance & accounting, and – yes – marketing. That is, when we have time for it.

But therein lies the rub: If we don’t have time for marketing to feed the pipeline, and one of those clients we’re serving so diligently decides to pivot in a direction detrimental to the vendor’s current state of relations, we’re left adrift.

After a banner 2015, one client decided to make just such a pivot this month. While I cannot be certain the end is nigh, if they’re sailing in a new direction, then Poof! went about 25% of last year’s gross receipts.

Am I feeling the pain? Sure, receivables are down and cash flow is suffering.

Am I sweating it? Not really. Funny thing happened in the 27 years since I hung my shingle as a freelance writer. I learned not to sweat the small stuff.

Some may argue that a 25-point loss in receipts is hardly small stuff. But 16 months ago, that client wasn’t in my stable. They came, they infused my business – and lifestyle – with a bolus dose of revenues. Now, they could be gone (the jury, or VP of Marketing over there, is still out on that one).

But what I’ve also learned in 27 years, is that stuff happens. You can’t let any individual event – no matter how seemingly significant or costly to the bottom line it may appear at the time – distract you from your business.

But it’s important to hit the ground running – and that includes having your marketing in place. My five rules to live by:

– Marketing must be persistent. Getting your name, your brand, your identity out in the marketplace isn’t some one-off event. It has to be a constant endeavor that continually sets you apart from the competition. As a sign in our home reads, “Every day, do one thing that makes you happy.” To paraphrase, “Every day, do one thing that gets your name out.”

– Marketing needn’t be high-brow or expensive. I have a Facebook friend who’s also a successful IT vendor to small and medium businesses. He posts frequently, but not always about his business. But every post he makes to Facebook is a subtle reminder of who he is and what he does. Others keep their presence alive on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, even their blogs. It’s more than some exercise in vanity. It’s an opportunity for your content, thoughts – and name – to be shared. This goes beyond flattery. It’s powerful marketing.

– Ask for referrals. This cannot be overstated. You can market yourself ’til you’re blue in the face or have run out of hours in the day. But one well-placed recommendation or referral from a client or ally to a prospect can pay serious dividends. The key is to never leave a client meeting without asking. “Who do you know who could use my services?” Don’t ask, don’t get.

– Get Out There. I’ve said it before, and it cannot be said enough. Spend more time in front of clients, prospects, allies, peers, and others in a position to contract your services or steer referrals your way. It’s not enough to send a holiday card or gift (you did, right?) or post to social media or make a phone call. During that correspondence, invite someone to lunch. As business relationship consultant Keith Ferrazzi wrote, Never Eat Alone. Attend networking events, chamber meetings, industry gatherings – whatever. Just stop “nesting,” get out of your hive, and meet people. It’s powerful stuff.

– Market or perish. Servicing and billing – and collecting from – current clients might be the lifeblood of your business. But marketing is the transfusion that brings new business to the door. Without it, you might as well remove that shingle.

The key to all this is to Be Resilient. You will land clients, and you will lose some, too. Business will expand, and contract. You’ll live high, and your will scrape your way between checks promised but that seem to find their way to the mailbox at a glacier’s pace (of course, some never will, but collections is another blog for another day). Resilience – in business and character – is one protective measure against the demons that may haunt you when business gets slow.

Resilience – and persistent marketing. It’s the infusion your business needs everyday, even when things are smooth sailing.